Page 60 - Art Attack Gr 9 LB SKU1007

NOW LET’S PRACTISE THOSE SKILLS... Painting
techniques and exercises

Now the fun begins! With the assistance and support of your educator, you will complete
the tasks below. Each task is to be done on separate paper. It is important that you
experiment with your paint and the different techniques.

Do not spend too much time on each technique. Each painting technique exercise should
be about 7cm by 7cm. It’s about trying out new things not about how perfectly you
complete each masterpiece. No perfectionists allowed this lesson!

1. Planar colour and overlapping (analogous colour mixing)
Draw a variety of shapes that overlap each other. You must only draw the outline of the
shape – do not include any of the detail. There should only be a few little negative spaces
left. Now choose an analogous colour scheme of three colours, painting in the shapes.
You must use one tone of colour to fill in each shape- there is no tonal modulation when
you are using a planar technique. Where the shapes overlap, you will mix the two colours
to form a new one and so on. In the background, paint a complimentary colour.
2. Impasto and additions (creativity and originality)
Create a small painting in which you build the surface up using different painted objects,
layers of paint or mix something into your paint in order to raise the surface.
3. Wash vs. detail (skill and layering)
The genre is landscape. In some areas use a wash (mix a lot of water with a little bit of
paint and paint it over a large area so that it is translucent), while in other areas show
detail by carefully painting with a small brush taking a long time to show all the details.
Build your paint up by painting layers of colours and detail over each other.
4. Op art (tightness, neatness and complimentary colours)
You are to create an intricate and geometric design in which you repeat shapes and form,
slowly changing their size. You then paint the design using a complimentary colour
scheme, alternating the colours and painting neatly so that the design appears to move
when you look at it for a long time. Make sure that your paint is opaque.
5. Reduction design (artistic insight and simplification)
Take an object and reduce all its colours, shades and tints to two colours only. Of these
two colours one must be light and the other dark. Now paint this object in these two
colours. Repeat the entire exercise choosing two different colours. Notice how your choice
of colours affects the appearance of the object. Paint the background with a totally
different colour.
6. Pointillism (optical blending)
Paint an alien using only ear buds or the back of your paintbrush – in other words paint in
dots. You must use at least two different colours in a space at a time to create texture,
interest and “optical blending”.
7. Print painting (pattern formation)
You are not allowed to use a paintbrush for this experiment. Instead, you must dip objects
in paint and stamp them on your paper creating a pattern. Your idea should be complex
and interesting.
8. Bleach and ink (detail, line quality and texture)
First paint ink over the area. While it is still fairly moist, dip your brush/stick into the bleach
and start drawing. Wherever the bleach touches, the ink it will whiten again. Try to include
as many different shading techniques and textures as possible.

Artifact Publications and Training 2015 54